


I'm Not Impressed (I Want You Back)

by cerie



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-03
Updated: 2013-08-03
Packaged: 2017-12-22 07:15:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/910431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cerie/pseuds/cerie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(All he wants is MacKenzie, dark hair spilled on the pillow next to him and skin flushed from arousal. He wants her he wants her he <i>wants</i> her.) </p>
<p>He’s moving on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Not Impressed (I Want You Back)

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the John Mayer song "Comfortable," which is quite possibly one of the best Will/MacKenzie songs I've run across.

Will isn’t really expecting a phone call from Nina Howard but, on a lark, he decides to take it. He’s still on the mission to civilize, after all, and being cordial to an acquaintance definitely qualifies as part of that mission. He can’t help but smile when it seems like Nina’s changed her mind from earlier and wants to go out with him and he thinks maybe this week’s looking up. It’s been a hell of a long time since he’s gone on a date and he promises to make reservations at Le Bernadin for 9:30. It’s kind of late for Nina but he needs time to get out of ACN and hail a cab; he thinks she’ll understand.

(MacKenzie used to hate going out to fancy places and would rather order takeout and eat it while sprawled in front of his fireplace.)

His celebrity affords him the comfort of a private room and he gets there first. When Nina walks in, her eyes are a little wide and go wider still when he crosses the room to escort her to the table and pulls out her chair for her. He’s always been a gentleman, for which he has his mother to thank. Kate McAvoy instilled in him (and his brothers) a pretty firm sense of morality, especially as pertains to how a man treats a woman. His mother hadn’t really had the the luxury of a supportive, chivalrous husband and Will has always vowed to treat women the way he wanted his mother to be treated. Nina is no exception to that rule.

(The first time he met MacKenzie’s parents, he brought her mother flowers because that’s simply what you should do. That night, when MacKenzie was sprawled against him in bed, she told him that he was perfect and that she loved him. It was the first time she’d said it.)

“I didn’t think I’d end up here,” Nina says and Will isn’t sure if she means here, as in Le Bernadin, or here as in on a date with him. He simply smiles and orders wine from the sommelier and when the waiter comes around to take their order, he suggests a few things but otherwise lets Nina pick whatever it is she wants. 

(He almost always ordered for MacKenzie because she tended to go off on tangents when speaking and never looked at the menu; he knows all her favorites almost as well as he knows his own.) 

It’s a good date. If Will ignores what Nina does for a living (which he can, easily, when she’s wearing a dress that shows her legs off like that), she’s a charming, articulate woman who is leaps and bounds above the usual bottom-of-the-barrel scraping he does when he just wants to get laid. He strongly suspects Nina is more than that, given their history, and he thinks the rivalry might be the basis of another, deeper relationship.

(MacKenzie hated him the first time she met him, thought he was a pompous blowhard, and it took six months and some carefully-applied charm to get her to warm up to him. It was more than worth it.) 

He isn’t intending to bring Nina back to his place but it sort of happens after they kill a bottle of wine and have cocktails over dessert. She’s quiet in the cab ride over, almost contemplative, and Will would worry except when he touches her knee lightly, Nina slides his hand up higher so it’s just beneath the hem of her skirt. That’s a good sign. That’s probably the best sign he’s had all night that he’s doing the right thing in taking her out and he hopes it bodes well for the rest of the evening; the last thing he wants is another drink in his face.

(MacKenzie didn’t sleep with him on their first date. Or the second. Six dates in, she spent the night and then she didn’t leave for the next three days.) 

He manages to keep his hands off her in the elevator but it’s a struggle. It’s been a hell of a long time for him and he’s still kind of fucked up from being yanked off the 9/11 broadcast and the only thing he wants is to feel _good_ for a little while and not like he’s disappointing someone. These days, he almost always feels like he’s letting someone down, be it the staff, MacKenzie, Charlie or, hell, even the viewers. He just wants to have his cake and eat it too, is the problem, and choosing the viewers alienates him with MacKenzie and the staff. It’s not a fun place to be in. 

But Nina doesn’t care about all that. Nina couldn’t give a shit about his ratings or his polling data or what the focus group says about his hair. Nina is interested in him as a man, not a carefully-packaged ploy for the advertisers. Once they’re in his apartment, he turns on the fireplace and tugs her close, arms sliding around her waist and one hand sliding up to toy in her hair. Her hair is a lot longer than...well, other people he’s been with and it’s kind of a novelty for him; her eyes drift shut and Will thinks about how very much he’d like to kiss her. 

(MacKenzie had long hair before they broke up and she chopped it all off before heading to Afghanistan. He used to see her on CNN and flip the channel as soon as he confirmed she was safe because it was just too goddamn painful to look at.) 

It’s Nina who initiates the kiss, soft and hesitant, and Will meets her more than halfway because there’s very little he likes more than kissing a beautiful woman. He nips lightly at her lower lip and the hand in her hair slides down to tug down her zipper and push her dress off her shoulders. Nina steps out of it, standing there in just her underwear and heels and Will grins at her; yeah, this is going to be good. 

As he backs her into the bedroom, they leave a little pile of clothes in their wake until he’s pushed her back onto the bed and Nina is grinning and laughing. He’s a little nervous about this part, if only because it’s been a while and Nina is a hell of a lot different than some cheerleader he picked up at a game because Nina, at least, is someone he finds to be close if not an intellectual equal. Nina is someone he could actually see himself with for more than a couple nights. 

He’s ready to move on. 

He trails kisses down her neck and shoulders, fixes his mouth against one nipple and teases it until it’s hard and flushed. Nina is kind of quiet but the few noises she _does_ make are encouraging and Will grins against her soft skin. His hands find their way down between her legs, fingers slipping and sliding against every sensitive spot he can reach; Nina chokes off a moan and slides her thighs wider, encouraging him to touch her more. 

(MacKenzie was always so loud that Will lived half in fear of a noise complaint, in spite of the fact that he lived in a building with thick walls meant to ensure the privacy of the rich and famous. Sex with her was a never-ending stream of “fuck,” “Christ,” and “Billy, don’t stop.”) 

Nina bites her lip hard enough to almost draw blood when she comes and Will laughs and kisses her lightly before reaching over to snag a condom. He rolls it on quickly and slides in, not wanting to waste any time and God, it feels good to just _be_ with somebody and not be so damn lonely. He hadn’t realized how lonely he was until now, until seeing how nice it felt to have someone in bed with him that he could potentially care about and that right there is the biggest aphrodisiac he can think of. It doesn’t take him long and when he comes, his teeth scrape lightly at Nina’s collarbone and leave a little mark; she’s fair and marks easily.

He rolls off her and moves to tug her into his arms when Nina nods her head toward the bathroom and asks about a shower. It’s a little weird, because Will isn’t the kind of guy to just kick someone out of bed, but he’s also not the kind of guy to deny a woman whatever makes her comfortable. “Make yourself at home,” he says amiably, shifting to sit up. He doesn’t get out of bed until the shower starts but lays there, thinking instead. 

(All he wants is MacKenzie, dark hair spilled on the pillow next to him and skin flushed from arousal. He wants her he wants her he _wants_ her.) 

He’s moving on.


End file.
